The Jew Spot

As a roomful of people crowded into a room Sunday afternoon at Jewlicious to hear Matisyahu speak on spirituality, they were pleasantly surprised as Adam Weinberg tuned his guitar for Matisyahu to start off an acoustic surprise. And just when we thought we were so lucky to be graced with a private one-song session with Matisyahu, he humbly says, ‘So I’m supposed to talk about spirituality, but I’m not so good at that…so I’m gonna sing a couple more songs.' The crowd exploded as Matisyahu continued to perform intertwining his personal story between his music.

When it came time to perform King Without a Crown, the song that made the world listen, Matisyahu shared that while learning in a Yeshiva during his own search for G-d, he found himself in a studio where this song poured out of him in only 5 or 10 minutes. And we still felt the emotion behind the lyrics as his voice penetrated through his soul and his beatboxing woke the rest of ours up. What's this feeling?/My love will rip a hole in the ceiling/Givin' myself to you from the essence of my being/Sing to my G-d all these songs of love and healing/Want Mashiach now so it's time we start revealing.

‘When there’s music, life feels like music,’ Matisyahu said to the audience, opening up the crowd to a Q&A.

What inspired you to become religious and what was the process?

First and foremost, my yearning to learn about G-d; my desire to be connected with G-d.

When I first became religious, I had a mentor – a Chabad rabbi – who I was very close with. I started learning Chabad chasidism. I felt that was very relevant at that time.

Connecting myself to Chabad was a method of pushing myself over the edge. And then once I did that, I felt there was a certain time to return to myself – a return to myself in terms of not being bound in one way, one path, but opened to all paths.

How do you stay pure in the industry?

The answer is I’m still trying to figure that out. It’s hard to stay focused on G-d and stay in that place of yearning.

People in general hear the word prayer and think it’s a scary word.

Well prayer is basically boring. So I just try to make it exciting as much as possible.

When I first starting praying in the Hasidic way, the concept of prayer was you should try to intellectually grasp as much as you can. And then express yourself toward G-d. Trying to understand and grasp and having feeling towards G-d.

Then there are times for just screaming at G-d. And that’s kind of what I like to do every morning. I found a minyan at 8:45 am which is not too early where the people there scream at G-d and that’s a lot of fun.

If I try to pray and I pray quietly, I just get pissed off that G-d is so silent. And so I just try to yell at G-d. Sometimes in a nice way.

I was davening [praying] where the people were saying the Shema. When you say the Shema, it’s like you are giving your life to G-d. People in concentration camps have said Shema Israel before they died and that was their last moment.

Jews have not killed others in the name of G-d but have themselves died in the name of G-d and that is a very deep thing – to die because you’re Jewish.

So the one thing that I have found when people say, ‘Shema Israel’ [singing it without any passion] it makes me really pissed off. These guys [at the minyan] shout ‘Shema' like there’s a fire squad in the room and they’re shouting their last breath like they’re about to die. That’s the way I like to start off my mornings.

Now that you’re touring, do you recommend being Shomer Shabbos?

‘Shomer Shabbos.’ What movie is that from? Matisyahu asked.

‘The Big Lebowski’ the audience shouted. ‘I don’t roll on Shabbos,’ one kid screamed.

‘Nice,’ Matisyahu continued.

To me, being Shomer Shabbos came before anything. It wasn’t that I was a struggling musician and then faced with a challenge to keep Shabbos. At that point, I was already set in my mind. It was no option for me. I was Jewish and I had to keep Shabbos. For me that was primary.

If the music was going to happen, it was going to happen because G-d was going to let it happen. No matter how much I struggle and try, of course it was going to happen because G-d was letting it happen.

Why is there an interest in your music in the non-Jewish community?

I think it’s not just Jewish people who have a desire to connect to G-d.

Author of Cool Jew Lisa Klug asked, beside Chabad, where else do you find your inspiration both spiritually and with your music?

My main inspiration lately is not trying to fill the gap of the hole in my heart, but just letting it be.

Don’t run from it. Use your art to fulfill it, whatever your form of art is. Whether it’s painting or whether it’s the work that you do. Whether its creating shabbatons or if you’re a business man, don’t run from that place. Just accept it.

What do you think of the law of not being allowed to hear women sing, Ko Isha?

This is a law I don’t understand, but I try to keep it to a certain degree. For me, every time I have heard a woman sing, I never found it to be sexual. When you maybe see a women dancing in spandex on MTV while singing, that’s a different story.

Personally, I still listen to female singers but I somehow feel that the Torah is true. That’s one of the places where I don’t have all the answers.

You’ve said that you wanted to break through – and then you went to Crown Heights, put on a black coat, grew the beard and suddenly said to yourself, that’s a good gimmick. There are rappers about the blacks, about the Hispanics, why not the religious Jew? Is that what you were thinking?

It’s possible that’s what was going on in my subconscious. I wasn’t aware of that.

Rapper Kosha Dillz asked, what are your thoughts while you’re on stage singing?

I just think about the words. Sometimes it’s really good to look out and see who is there and be part of it all. Sometimes it just about the prayer and focusing on the words that I sing. Sometimes I’m afraid if I open my eyes I’ll get distracted from what I’m trying to say.

The truth is it doesn’t make much sense (to close my eyes to not get distracted) because this is G-d [as he puts out his hands out to the audience in front of him].

Do the songs ever get jaded or feel out of the element?

There have been times I’ve been stuck. Correspond with what’s going on in my life. If I’m not giving much, if I’m not living my life in which I’m feeling much, then the songs don’t feel like much.

Where do you see yourself five years from now??

I want to be… [Jokingly]

I want to be still in love with my wife. And you know, maybe have another couple of kids. And still be doing the same thing.

How awesome is it that you get paid and make a living doing your passion, right?

It’s fucken awesome.

Um, my advice on dating is find someone that you like. If you don’t really like the person, don’t marry them. If you like them – like all their stuff – even the stuff other people don’t like about them, then you’re meant for each other.

The idea of Mashiach, and it says this in the Torah, is that every person has a spark of Mashiach in them and that’s the place in a person where there is no cynicism, skepticism or doubt, or darkness. If a person works their whole life trying to get to that place of acceptance and love in their heart, then they are doing their part in bringing the Mashiach.

Is there an overlap with being Jewish and being a musician?

Being Jewish and being able to express myself through music, there is definitely a connection.

Matisyahu concluded the Q&A with one last song, only to stop short because he had to pee. Gotta love him.

Check out his performance from Jewlicious on YouTube and stay tuned for more interviews from the amazing people who were at the festival.

Much Love <3

Contact me at FindMyJewSpot@gmail.com for more on the interviews here or if you know of someone who should be spotlighted.